Gaming giant Xbox and Chinese gaming platform Gamecores have collaborated to launch a capsule collection, which exclusively dropped on China’s largest ecommerce platform, Taobao, on October 18.

The fashion items include outerwear, such as windbreakers and anorak jackets, and accessories, like bags and caps, in various shades of green, black, and white. The garments are emblazoned with patterns inspired by the iconic Xbox logo and icons and symbols found on the gaming consoles.

Some might wonder: Will consumers ever tire of unseemly brand collaborations? Or who would be willing to sport a huge Xbox logo on their jacket?

But the collection makes more sense once you understand its inspiration. Xbox and Gamecore are tapping into one of China’s hottest trends: Gorpcore is a fashion style that focuses on functional outdoor wear.

Outdoorsy aesthetics have seen a spike in popularity in recent years, thanks not only to celebrities like A$AP Rocky, Tyler the Creator, and Bella Hadid, but also to high-profile brand collaborations between brands such as Gucci and The North Face.

An acronym for ‘good old raisins and peanuts,’ ‘gorp’ is an informal North American term for trail mix, which makes for convenient snacking in the great outdoors — hence the term gorpcore, which is used to describe outdoorsy apparel.

But while hiking staples — think down jackets, Salomon sneakers, and literally everything made with Gore-Tex fabric — only belonged to remote mountain trails before, they can be seen in both street fashion and on runways today.

Gorpcore’s popularity has reached an all-time high due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as confined people worldwide crave fresh air in the great outdoors.

Chinese youth, too, have developed a new appreciation of the outdoors, as can be seen through their love of glamping and road trips.

And the prevalence of social media has fueled the need for occasion-appropriate attire. The hashtags for ‘outdoor outfit’ (#户外穿搭#) and ‘camping outfit’ (#露营穿搭#) respectively have 37.9 and 24.5 million views on the Instagram-like platform Xiaohongshu.

Cover image designed by the author